question about a U S M C machete

T

Thomas Crain

Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
5
I was just wondering, i have a u.s.m.c. machete that has briddel etched into the pommel of of the blade. I was used in world war2 by my dads uncle over in japan. I need to know if anyone has any information about this blade. such as blade steel and common things like this
 
I had a machete which has the blade stamped U.S.M.C and the village blacksmith, a rounded tip saber ground machete for heavy use, wood handle with three copper rivets.

I believe it was 5160 steel, made during the Vietnam war for bushclearing. Handle is some local asian hardwood I guess

no sheath

Hope this helped ya out a bit

greetz, bart.
 
Bart, what you are describing is not a machete, but a USMC quartermaster knife. It's a little heavy for a machete because of the 6 or 7 mm thick blade. The rounded tip was used for prying, especially for opening nailed wooden boxes. The whole knife is more likely to be used as an axe than as a razor.
And it wasn't made during the vietman war, but without a sheath you could not know. I did a clean up job (without destroying the nice patina) on one of these only 2 days ago and the original sheath was marked 1943. Sounds more like WWII than Vietnam to me.

Thomas, is this the same knife you are talking about?

Achim
 
Achim,

Yeah that's probably it. I do know it came from the kettner catalog, and that I traded it off for a few laguioles back then.
It can do machete work, but yeah, it's probably a bit too heavy. Mine had no sheath, so i have no clue.
quartermasters knife.. hmm..to be honest..never heard of such a knife. But at least no I can tell the guy it's origins.

thanks Achim.

Greetz, bart.
 
Post it over the Bernard Levine forum. I have certainly seen some WWII antique machetes (with pictures) in his book about collectible knives.

HM
 
i-1.JPG
 
According to the pic in the prior post -- M.H. Cole (book III) identifies it as a Medical Corpsman's Knife - he shows 4 makers and states that all the sheaths were heavy leather with belt hooks -- early versions had 3 rivets and later ones had 4. Silvey and Boyd simply identify it as a Marine Corps Bolo. I see them frequently at gun shows here in the southwest - priced from $50 - $100. Hope this helps.
 
Yes, that's it. What i had in my hands was a later version with 4 rivets. Solid knife.

Achim
 
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